TAPOL and Kaki Abu Legal Aid released a video entitled "LK dan Pusaran Kerasan di Papua (LK and Systemic State Violence in Papua)". This campaign video calls for the release of LK, a child accused of having broken the law (ABH) in Maybrat, #WestPapua, who was subjected to torture and forced to undergo an unfair trial.
Click this link to watch the full video.
On 25 November Indonesia’s Constitutional Court issued an order to the Government and parliament to change parts of the ‘Omnibus Law’ (UU Cipta Kerja). The Court also forbade the passing of any further implementing regulations and policies associated with the law in a two-year grace period. If the necessary changes are not made within two years, the Court ordered that the Omnibus Law would become “permanently unconstitutional”.
The Constitutional Court’s judgement will put further pressure on the Government to reconsider the Omnibus law. But a two-year grace period could also be...
On Nov. 11, the UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, visited Indonesia during a week-long trip to Southeast Asia. Truss’s outing happened in the context of the UK’s post-Brexit objectives of “tilting” towards the Indo-Pacific region.
In her meetings with Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Truss aimed to deepen cooperation between the UK and Indonesia in economy, security and technology.
Yet there are several issues which should also have been aired by Truss during her visit. The question of the military’s continuing power and its impact...
On Nov. 11, the UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, visited Indonesia during a week-long trip to Southeast Asia. Truss’s outing happened in the context of the UK’s post-Brexit objectives of “tilting” towards the Indo-Pacific region.
In her meetings with Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Truss aimed to deepen cooperation between the UK and Indonesia in economy, security and technology.
Yet there are several issues which should also have been aired by Truss during her visit. The question of the military’s continuing power and its impact...
TAPOL is deeply concerned about a series of escalating threats and attacks made against the family of prominent Indonesian human rights lawyer and defender, Veronica Koman in Jakarta. These threats and attacks indicate a worsening situation for human rights lawyers and defenders in Indonesia, with other prominent human rights defenders being subjected to police investigations.
The incidents against Koman’s family have in recent weeks involved an arson attack outside the house of her parents on 24th October. Two weeks later, on Sunday 7th November, assailants left an explosive device...
Media Statement
London, 3 November 2021
UK Government should apologise for encouraging 1960s massacres of alleged leftists in Indonesia and appoint independent counsel to investigate
On 17 and 24 October, the Observer newspaper published new research undertaken by academics and journalists, disclosing the existence in 1965 of a covert unit in the UK Foreign Office. The unit spread disinformation purporting to be from Indonesian ‘patriots’ living outside Indonesia, encouraging massacres.
Since the fall of the New Order dictatorship in Indonesia in 1998, many...
TAPOL is sad to report the death of Max Stahl, the legendary journalist and filmmaker who will be remembered, above all, for filming the Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor on November 12, 1991. The massacre of 271 people happened in the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, where Indonesian security forces opened fire on graveside mourners. It was a turning point in the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Max’s footage came about whilst he was preparing material for the television documentary ‘In Cold Blood: the Massacre of East Timor’. It was shown in many countries and played an important role in...
URGENT ACTION
No.15/DIR-ELSHAM/UA/XI/2021
To
Marsekal TNI Hadi Tjahjanto Panglima Tentara Nasional Indonesia Mabes TNI Cilangkap Jakarta Timur 13870 Indonesia
Dear Chief Marsekal TNI Hadi Tjahjanto,
ELSHAM Papua is supported by 24 institutions and civil society organisations from across the land of Papua, throughout Indonesia, and internationally, expressing deep concern over the shooting of two children in Sugapa, Intan Jaya Regency, Melpianus Sondegau (2 years old) who died, and Yoakim Majau (6 years old) was a victim of gunshot wounds. The shooting of...
From the early 2000s, terrorism in Indonesia was regarded as a matter of ‘security and order’, and dealt with by the police and its militarized anti-terror unit, Densus 88. However, in 2018, legislation was amended which marked a shift in that the Indonesian military was again given a key role in countering terrorism. In 2021, this legal provision was brought into play as the main West Papuan armed resistance, the TPNPB was designated as a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the Government.
The move further cements the military’s power and authority, which has been growing for twenty years...
From the early 2000s, terrorism in Indonesia was regarded as a matter of ‘security and order’, and dealt with by the police and its militarized anti-terror unit, Densus 88. However, in 2018, legislation was amended which marked a shift in that the Indonesian military was again given a key role in countering terrorism. In 2021, this legal provision was brought into play as the main West Papuan armed resistance, the TPNPB was designated as a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the Government.
The move further cements the military’s power and authority, which has been growing for twenty years...
London, 21 September 2021
The political trial of Victor Yeimo was adjourned by the District Court of Jayapura on 31 August 2021 until he is declared physically fit by the hospital. On the same day, the Court also dismissed his pretrial motion, challenging his arrest and detention for violating criminal procedural law, on the grounds that the main trial had begun.
Victor Yeimo was finally hospitalised on 30 August despite the Court having issued an order to hospitalise him since the evening of 27 August. The prosecutors deliberately defied the Court’s order, which caused uproar...
Press Release
London, 16th September 2021
Peaceful demonstrators, student activists, West Papuan and Indonesian political activist groups, human rights lawyers and defenders and individual civilians experienced extreme repression for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations and meetings which occured in 2020 in West Papua and outside West Papua.
These are the findings of a new report, the West Papua 2020: Freedom Of Expression And Freedom Of Assembly Report in which...
Campaigner, TAPOL
September 2021
Position: Campaigner (UK-based)
Part-time: two days per week equivalent
Salary: £24,000 - £27,500 (pro rata), depending on experience
TAPOL is a UK-based NGO that promotes human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia. We are looking for a UK-based campaigner to undertake campaign work particularly on West Papua as well as wider Indonesia-related issues. The successful candidate must be in agreement with TAPOL's objectives.
Location: UK-based, preferably with easy/regular access to our London office
Start date: 1...
(London, 24 August 2021) Today is the first day of the trial of West Papuan political leader Victor Yeimo, the international spokes-person of the West Papuan National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat, KNPB) and the Papuan People's Petition (Petisi Rakyat Papua, PRP). Victor Yeimo was arrested on 9th May 2021 for his alleged role in the 2019 West Papua Uprising protests. The State Prosecutors indicted Victor Yeimo on three counts of treason and one count of incitement which could put him in prison for life.
According to Victor Yeimo’s lawyers, the authorities have...
President Widodo Should Revoke Award for Human Rights Violator
Committing Crimes Against Humanity is Not for Celebration
London, New York, Berlin
Saturday 14 August, 2021
TAPOL, ETAN and Watch Indonesia! strongly condemn President Joko Widodo’s decision to grant ‘Bintang Jasa Utama’, one the highest national awards, to Eurico Guterres on Thursday, 12 August 2021.
Guterres, an anti-independence militia leader in Timor-Leste, was one of the key figures who led and participated in a series of massacres and destruction in his homeland prior to...
TAPOL strongly condemns the conduct of two airforce personnel who severely beat a disabled man, Steven Yadohamang, in Merauke, West Papua province, on 27 July 2021. The incident, which has been widely shared on social media, shows the two personnel beating up a man and crushing his body into the ground and stamping on his head. It is clear from the footage that Yadohamang does not possess the capacity to defend himself against two individuals who appear to be unconcerned with possible consequences. A similar incident in Nabire took place the following day. A West Papuan man Nicolas Mote...
JOINT STATEMENT
Indonesia: Unilateral renewal of Special Autonomy and arbitrary arrest of protesters in West Papua
(Johannesburg, London, 16 July 2021) CIVICUS and TAPOL regret the revision and renewal of the Special Autonomy Law in West Papua (Papua and West Papua Provinces), which further strips critical aspects of decentralisation and autonomy for the region. We are also extremely concerned about the arbitrary arrest of people protesting the renewal and forcible disruptions of protests. Despite such protests and the lack of consultation with the people of West Papua, the law...
Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL’s founder and driving force for many decades, passed away peacefully on the morning of Saturday 10th July.
She will be greatly missed by all of us in TAPOL and in the wider TAPOL family, the extensive network of people whose lives were touched - and sometimes transformed - by her passionate and determined campaigning for human rights, justice and democracy in Indonesia, East Timor, Aceh and West Papua. For many of us she was a great mentor as well as a beloved friend.
TAPOL stands for 'tahanan politik' or 'political prisoners' in Indonesian. Carmel, a...
Dear H.E. Johnny G. Plate, Minister of Communication and Information Technology Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Indonesia
(25 May, 2021) We, the undersigned, urge you to repeal Ministerial Regulation 5/2020 (MR5) that is deeply problematic, granting government authorities overly broad powers to regulate online content, access user data, and penalize companies that fail to comply. MR5 governs all private “electronic systems operators” that are accessible in Indonesia, broadly defined to include social media and other content-sharing platforms, digital...
TAPOL Joins the Papuan People’s Petition
(London, 25 May 2021) TAPOL has today launched a briefing aimed at informing the international community about why West Papuan people are rejecting the extension and revision of the special autonomy law. In support of a call by West Papuan grassroots organisations, we have become part of the movement of civil society organisations associated with the Papuan People’s Petition (Petisi Rakyat Papua, PRP) as its 111th member.
The piece, titled “Briefing: Special Autonomy – Big on funds, Short on human rights and democracy”, outlines the...